Envisioned Fancies
by InfiniteReverie
Summary: A strange dream that Gemma and Kartik shared. The Rakshana and Order are lovers... Alright, this story is leaning more to the romantic side than the humorous side. The more strange, the more interesting is my motto for this story.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sadly. I wish I could atleast own Kartik, though.**

**Something odd and different that I thought up one day. Kinda creepy, but hey, it's something. **

**Dated at the evening time on a random day. Soon after Gemma bound the magic to herself...and after Kartik ditched the Rakshana to spare Gemma's life. Gemma is back at Spence. Kartik's POV.**

**Please read on. It would be greatly appreciated if you tell me what you think about this after.**

**---**

My eyes flutter briefly. I am lying on a hard floor, the back of my head aching a bit. A shape towers over me, casting a dark shadow. My eyes widen at the familiar dark features.

"Who are you?" I croak. My lips feel heavy, as if held down by invisible fingers.

The painfully familiar lips part to let loose a laugh.

"Can't remember me, hm?"

Remember? Did I know this person before? A part of me says yes, and another part is completely oblivious.

I feel myself shake my head, a slight weight following my action. I catch a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye. It is red and curly.

Before I can start to wonder about that, the man laughs again, his broad shoulders shaking.

"I am Kartik," he answers casually, a hint of mocking in his voice.

My jaw drops slightly. What? Kartik? I stare at him and take in his face: a strong and straight nose, full lips, dark and thick lashes lining warm brown eyes, a sturdy jawline, high cheekbones, and a mess of unruly curls atop his head. Then who am I? Gemma? I just about laugh out loud.

As if reading my mind, the person who claims to be me, says, "And you are Gemma. Miss Doyle."

"Wha-what?" I can't believe this. Me? I decide that I do like this man who is playing jokes on me.

"You really have lost your memory. That bang on your head must have done something to your brain."

I instinctively feel my head, fingers touching long strands of red and curly hair. I jerk my hands away from the hair and gape at the man.

"Come along, Miss Doyle. We must continue on our way."

I take in the scenery around us for the first time. Trees surround us, the leaves tainted with moonlight. A looming building is in the distance, and I recognize it as Spence Academy for Young Ladies.

So-called-Kartik offers me his hand, but I turn it down. Ha! Am I really so vain? I attempt to stand, but a sharpness jabs at my ribs. I gasp. Kartik wears a look of amusement on his face. I hardly manage to hold back a vicious snarl.

I place my hand on the rough bark of a tree beside me and manage to stand. My feet are lifted on the heel, and I cast a careful glance down. I gawk at my boot-clad feet. Women's boots. With a, possibly, three-inched heel.

"Gemma?" I automatically look around for Gemma's face, but then I remember: I am Gemma.

"Are you alright?" Kartik asks, slowly. All the amusement is gone from his face. Concern shines in his eyes. A feeling of disgust curls my lips in a snarl.

"Quite alright, thank you very much," I growl.

Kartik casts an uncertain glance at me and turns around, his broad back towards me. "Well, then, come along."

I follow him as we make our way between the trees, lacy skirts rustling about my legs. I hold up my hands for inspection. They are as white as porcelain. Delicate-looking fingers glare up at me, mocking_. You're a woman now. Well, a girl, rather. _

"We're here now, Miss Doyle." Kartik's voice cuts through my disturbing thoughts. I look at the clearing from under my lashes. The lake sits calmly in the center, and the boathouse is submerged completely in shadow.

I am about to give a snarky comment when Kartik speaks. He leans toward me slightly and says in a hushed tone, "We have to wait here hidden. Try not to move about too much, or attract any attention."

I don't reply, and look towards the lake, all of my senses tingling. A crack of a twig alerts the two of us. From the shadows emerge a tall and lean woman. She looks around the clearing, and something tells me she is looking for us.

"Alright," her low and booming voice calls. "You can come out now."

Kartik gestures for me to follow him out into the clearing, out of the shadows. I oblidge wordlessly, eyes trained on the woman before us.

"Ah, Gemma," the woman adresses me casually. "It is nice to meet you, again."

Again? How is it that I am always missing out on things?

Sensing my confusion, the woman says, with the same tone, "I am a member of the Rakshana, the sisterhood society."

If the woman before me was a man, and I also a man, I would have punched her for her insult, though I have left my brotherhood to save Gemma's life. Or rather, my life. And Kartik saving me. I have no idea what I am getting at.

As if the word "Rakshana" held a secret message of "come out and show your pride", a group of women step out from the shadows. For the first time, I notice a pin, with a symbol of two knitting needles crossing to form a "x" and a ball of yarn in the center, pinned to the bodices of the women's dresses. Something screams in my mind. Where have I seen something like this before? A fleeting image of the sword and the skull flashes by in my head. The Rakshana!

"We are all sisters." The women join hands, forming a long line before us.

"And we," A deep voice announces. "Are the Order."

I spin around, alarmed. As if a form of shadow themselves, a group of men step from their hiding places. The Order? Surely there is some mistake.

"We are all brothers." The men also join hands.

My eyes dart between the two parties. Am I of the Order, then, if I am Gemma? But the Order are brothers. Am I of the Rakshana, if I am a woman? Then which group is Kartik of? The Rakshana - no, the Order. I feel my mind becoming more and more clustered. My temper is growing short.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" I let out a snarl.

As I didn't speak at all, the Order and the Rakshana settle their gazes on each other. I catch a hint of loving and a tenderness in the eyes of a man closest to me.

"The Rakshana and the Order are lovers," they all chorus, before gliding towards each other, arms held out to meet halfway in an embrace.

I flit my eyes toward my left, half-expecting to see Gemma, her eyes also shadowed with love and tenderness. Instead, my eyes land on Kartik. My stomach churns violently, threatening to reject its meager contents.

"Gemma," he whispers. A shiver climbs up my spine. "Lovers..." Kartik takes a step towards me, love and longing strong in his eyes.

Right then and there, I knew I was going to vomit, secretly hoping to choke on it.

"Kartik."

Too sick to think, I answer, "Yes?"

"Kartik...Kartik...Kartik..."

Kartik steps towards me, and says, "Kartik."

I swing my clenched fists up into the air.

"What the bloody hell do you want?"

A warmth on my shoulders widen my eyes. I catch sight of striking green eyes before I blink. "Gemma?"

---

**Yep. So, would anyone want to talk to me about this? Anyone have anything to say? Tell me if I should continue this. I do have the second chapter up my sleeve, but only if you readers want to read more about this.**

**Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**The second chapter of Envisioned Fancies. The answer to the confusion in the previous chapter. **

**Thank you to all those that reviewed and favorited! I appreciate that very much. **

**Read on, the answer lies within. Promise.**

**---**

"Kartik!" Gemma's voice is filled with relief. "Are you alright? You were a bit green..."

I fill my lungs with the cool spring air. It takes me a while to realize I was dreaming. The trees around us wave their branches as a breeze pushes past them. Tilting my head slightly, I see an impressive building in the distance: Spence Academy for Young Ladies. I lift my hands to my eyes: they are brown and calloused. Crossing my arms across my chest, I lean back and sigh. Splintery bark meets with my dark curls.

"What happened?" I am asking no one in particular.

Gemma looks flustered. "I'm sorry I was late, Kartik. I fell asleep and, well, I had the most awkward dream."

This bit of infomation catches my attention. "Oh?" I mumble. "What was it about?"

Gemma takes a seat beside me and also leans her head on the tree. I can feel her warmth radiating off her body.

"Well," she begins. "I was here, actually, in my dream. In the forest around Spence. And I saw.._me_ there. But I wasn't... _me,_ I was..._you. _You were me, and I was you."

I nod. Why is this sounding so familiar?

Gemma wrinkles her nose. "Well, that meant I was a man, and you were a woman. Someway or the other, I had this intention of heading towards the lake. And you followed me there. When we got there, I saw the Order and the Rakshana. But the Order was not the Order, and the Rakshana was not the Rakshana. In fact, they were opposites, if you know what I mean."

"Please continue," I say, my heart doubling its steady pace.

She takes a deep breath and lets it out in a sigh. I can feel her breath tickle the hair around my ear.

"The Rakshana joined hands, and then the Order did the same. They twirled towards each other saying, 'the Rakshana and the Order are lovers'," Gemma trails off into silence. Out of the corner of my eye, I see that she is blushing.

We sit for a while in uncomfortable silence. I look up to the moon, watching us in silence. I clear my throat, and whisper, "I fell asleep too, before you came, and -"

Should I continue? Would this embarrass her further more? Gemma shifts a bit in her place and also looks up to the moon, wayward red curls dripping onto her back. I have a sudden urge to feel the silk of those curls, to reach over and press her soft lips against mine. But I shake the thought away.

Her voice, when it comes in small whisper, says, "And?"

I clear my throat again. "I had the same dream. But I was _you,_ and you were _I._"

Gemma gasps, and her face lights up. She speaks, again in the small whisper, "Do you believe that this had something to do with our dream, then? And it's occurences?"

I shake my head. "I don't know."

"This has to mean something," Gemma turns to me. I uncross my arms and face her, my eyes landing on her shining green eyes. There is something there, something very much like hope. My heart begins thumping wildly, as if I had been running for a long period of time.

"Gemma." I manage to choke out.

Her emerald eyes are clouded, her angelic face taking on a distant look. My eyes flick off of Gemma's face, settling on an object behind her. Cocking my head, I reach over and pick it up. I finger it carefully, thoughts confused and jumbled. A piece of yarn entwining a tiny flower. Gemma takes it gently out of my hands, glancing at me for permission. I nod in reply.

She stares at the tiny arrangement in interest, her lips parting just slightly, revealing the dazzling white of her perfect teeth. "Yarn and a flower?"

Her fingers stroke the flower carefully. "Kartik?"

"Yes?"

"This flower is from the realms, I can feel the magic in it." Gemma's face lights up with the thought of the realms.

"Oh?" I say softly. The realms?

"I remember vaguely, there was a pin, in the dream, pinned onto the women's dresses. It had knitting needles and balls of -"

"Yarn!" I interrupt, ignoring the annoyed look on Gemma's face. The pins, in fact, were the most frightening of all, in the dream, other than the fact that I was in a woman's body.

"Yes," Gemma nods. "What does this mean, then?" She lifts the flower and yarn up to her eyes.

I frown. "Well, the flower must represent the realms. And the yarn..." I trail off, partly because of the knowledge that Gemma's thoughful gaze turned on me, expecting me to enlighten her, and partly because I have too many suggestions floating about in my mind.

Gemma bites her lips gently. Lips I have always wanted to taste again and again after our previous, and hopeless, kisses. Her voice snaps me out of my trance, "The yarn should represent the Rakshana, considering our dream." The way she says_ our _sets my heart fluttering.

"The realms and the Rakshana?" I say quietly. My gaze lingers on Gemma's wonderful green eyes for a moment.

A mysterious smile spreads on her lips. "How about the _Order_ and the Rakshana?"

I can't help grinning. I see, now. "But I am not part of the Rakshana anymore, may I remind you?"

A blush floods Gemma's cheeks, and for a moment, I feel I have won. But her eyes flash, and her voice rings out boldly, "You would still be in your brotherhood, if you had not spared a stubborn, unsignificant, and hot-tempered girl's life."

Her eyebrows raise as I duck my head, embarrassed. "I - Well - I -"

"Yes, dear Kartik?" Gemma mocks, a triumphant smile spreading on her lips.

I clear my throat uneasily; so heavenly, yet so devilish. "Never mind me," I manage to choke out.

Gemma's smile widens at my pathetic croak. Luckily, she changes the subject, "Where did this come from, then?" She gestures toward the flower and yarn sitting on her outstretched palm.

I cast a glance around us cautiously, shivering slightly. "You are the only one able to enter the realms, am I correct?"

"Yes," Gemma replies slowly.

A sudden idea shines in my mind. "Didn't you once tell me that all dreams come from the realms, eventually?"

Gemma's face lights up. "Right. That meant I took this from the dream, from the realms?"

I smile. "The most logic explanation."

She returns my smile. I stretch my palm out, asking to hold the flower and yarn. Without another word, I tear the flower from the yarns tight embrace. I hand the yarn to Gemma with a smile. A warmth fills my insides as she takes the yarn, a growing smile playing about on her lips. The movement is so tender, and precious, so beautiful...

I am suddenly aware of Gemma in my arms, her wonderful lips on mine, her gentle hand stroking my hair, tangling with my messy curls. I don't know how long we sat in each other's charm; it felt like millions of years, and it felt like only a heartbeat, all at once.

"Gemma," I gasp when we finally break from each other. She buries her head into my chest, and I feel a sigh escaping from her lips. I lift her head, wanting so dearly to feel her lips on mine, a perfect fit. But I couldn't, it would be wrong. "Gemma," I say again. "It's getting late, you should be getting back to Spence." As much as I don't want this night to end, I undertand that I am doing the right thing, no matter how much it hurts.

Gemma's green eyes on glued on mine, pleading, but she rises, and I do the same. Her arms are about my neck, her breath against my hair. She breaks away, and I feel the chill of the night smother the warmth of the spot she left behind. And she is running, away from me, away from this night.

She will always be running away from me.

---

**Well, now. I don't know. The romance just jumped in. I guess I was feeling kinda mushy-gushy at the time. But hey, what's done is what's done.**

**I would LOVE you to review this. I couldn't thank the previous reviews enough! Thank you! **

**Pleeeease review!**


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